Top 100 Children’s Novels #76: Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

Books geared to those reluctant reader boys – and boy did they work – had so many boys reading that were never readers before this series. – Cheryl Phillips

These books are funny, fast reads that kids love! They have started the “diary” book craze! – Gina Detate

At last he arrives! The book that indeed is responsible for the hoards of notebook novels we see published left and right today. Wimpy Kid was one of those phenomenons that arrived at precisely the right moment. Its rise coincided with the publication of books like Shaun Tan’s The Arrival and Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret. These were all books that did not slot easily into single categories sometimes because they were for readers of all ages (as with Tan) or because they dared to mix and meld together text and image. In Wimpy Kid‘s case, this format was a natural offshoot of its webcomic status. Still, it’s really more novel than graphic, so it fits on this list just fine.

The description from my original review of the book reads, “First things first. Boys do not have diaries. Girls have diaries. Let’s get that straight cause things could get messy if we don’t. Basically, what we have here are the gathered thoughts and memories of Greg Haffley. Greg’s got a pretty average life, all things considered. His older brother is a jerk, his younger brother annoying, his best friend a doofus, and his parents perfect dweebs. To top it all off, Greg’s been thrown into his first year of middle school and things are really weird. Suddenly friendships are shifting and Greg’s not sure who he wants to be. Add in some haunted houses, wrestling, downhill games involving bodily injury, forbidden cheese, and basic family fears and you’ve got yourself one heckuva debut.”

I always cite Wimpy Kid as the whole reason paper books have no reason to fear the electronic uprising. Consider its status. Any kid can go to Funbrain.com and read Wimpy Kid online for free. That’s their choice. But you know what they really want? To get their hands on the paper edition. Maybe it’s the diary format but kids want to hold that puppy in their hands and turn the pages themselves without any smooth electronic gobblety-gook in the way.

Can you believe that since its publication its gotten its own Macy Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon:

Movie:

And . . . okay, just a balloon and a movie. Still, not too shabby for a former webcomic, no?

Be sure to read this post by designer Chad Beckerman on the many different Wimpy Kid covers out there from around the world.

Recently Jeff Kinney got another Wimpy Kid related honor, albeit one that had eluded him for years. For the past five years the Children’s Book Choice Awards would tally the child votes from around the country and deem one author the most popular of them all. It seems crazy, but it took YEARS for Kinney to finally get a shiny award all for himself. Here you can see author Jack Gantos handing it off to Jeff:

Elizabeth Bird is currently New York Public Library's Youth Materials Collections Specialist. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of NYPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

Comments

The Diary of a Wimpy Kid has been an extraordinary publishing experience. As a sales rep, I’m so happy to have played a very small role in the success that Jeff Kinney has enjoyed. Superstars in publishing are rare indeed. It has been thrilling to witness Jeff’s willingness to engage with his audience, the wild throngs of kids amass to see him, and Abrams creative marketing and publicity efforts that have kept the excitement high with the publication of each new book. Well done!

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About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .